Culturally informed and appropriate psychology

Abstract

In this chapter we examine the relationship between the science and practice of psychology as it has developed in the western world, and the need for a culturally informed, relevant and appropriate psychology for all the world's peoples. Psychological knowledge in the west (hereafter referred to as western psychology ) is often of little relevance to the majority world (a term used, for example, by Kagitcibasi, 2007, in preference to “developing” or “Third” World). We accept and applaud the goal of advancing the development of a global psychology, one that is both valid and useful for all cultural populations. There are a number of possible paths toward this goal, including: an examination of the impact of the presence of western psychology on the psychology done in other societies; the development of indigenous psychologies in many distinct societies; and the pulling together of all of these psychologies into a universal psychology that is global in scope. This move toward an international perspective has been increasingly important in recent years, including for the history of psychology (Brock, 2006), for the teaching of psychology (Karandashev and McCarthy, 2006) and for the practice of psychology (Stevens and Gielen, 2007).